“Cabby” & Cashner Star For Padres in 7-2 Win Over Yankees

Cabrera had four hits tonight. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

If Everth Cabrera played his final game of the 2013 season tonight, then San Diego’s shortstop sure decided to go out with style.

“Cabby’s” four-hit night plus a strong performance by Andrew Cashner on the mound proved to be more than enough for the Padres to record a 7-2 win over the Yankees in game one of their three-game series.

The Padres got off to a quick lead in the bottom of the first thanks to some wildness by CC Sabathia and some old fashioned run manufacturing.  Cabrera, who led off the game with a single, scored the game’s first run when Yonder Alonso drew a walk with the bases loaded.  Jedd Gyorko then tacked on another run when his groundout allowed Chase Headley to come home.

Not afraid of an early deficit, New York tied the game at 2-2 in the following frame when Eduardo Nunez doubled in the Yankees’ first run and Sabathia grounded out later in the inning for another.  Little did New York know that those were the only runs that they would manage to score tonight.

The Friars almost took the lead in the bottom of the third, but Headley was gunned down at the plate on a terrific throw by Brett Gardner when the third baseman tried to score from second after an Alonso single.

San Diego however pulled ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth when Logan Forsythe golfed a Sabathia pitch into the first row of the left field seats.  Cabrera then added another run later in the inning after he tripled home Cashner on a ball he smacked into the left-center field alley.  Credit must go to the Padres’ starter too, especially since he kept the inning alive with a two-out single.

“Cabby” then came through again in the bottom of the sixth when he laced a single with two outs.  The single extended the inning for Chris Denorfia who followed Cabrera’s single with one of his own down the right field line, and Nick Hundley raced home from second for San Diego’s fifth run.  “Deno’s” hit proved to be the final nail in Sabathia’s coffin on the night, and the hefty lefty exited the game after Hundley scored.

The Padres did not need much of a cushion tonight for Cashner considering how well he pitched this evening.  Outside of the troublesome second inning, the fire-baller did a terrific job as he pitched five straight scoreless frames after it.  Overall, the right-hander scattered seven hits in seven innings of work, did not surrender a walk, and even recorded a hit and a run as I alluded to previously.

Even after Cashner left though, the Friars kept the pressure on the Yankees as solo dingers by Gyorko and Will Venable in the bottoms of the seventh and eighth innings provided the Friars with two insurance runs.

Final Thoughts

It was sure nice to see the Padres’ lineup come through with some clutch hits tonight, particularly with two outs.  Hopefully the solo home run Gyorko hit in the bottom of the seventh will help him turn things around at the plate as well.

Tyson Ross will take the mound tomorrow night for the Friars as they will try to secure their fourth consecutive series victory.  The right-hander is coming off of two terrific outings, so let’s hope that he can continue to prove that he is worthy of a long-term spot in San Diego’s starting rotation with another strong performance.

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